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Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to examine potential differences in walking, cycling, public transport
and passive transport (car/moped/motorcycle) to work and to other destinations between
college and non-college educated working young adults. Secondly, we aimed to investigate
which psychosocial and environmental factors are associated with the four transport
modes and whether these associations differ between college and non-college educated
working young adults.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 224 working young adults completed an online questionnaire
assessing socio-demographic variables (8 items), psychosocial variables (6 items),
environmental variables (10 items) and transport mode (4 types) and duration to work/other
destinations. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were performed in
R.ResultsA trend (p<0.10) indicated that more college educated compared to non-college educated
young adults participated in cycling and public transport. However, another trend
indicated that cycle time and public transport trips were longer and passive transport
trips were shorter in non-college compared to college educated working young adults.
In all working young adults, high self-efficacy towards active transport, and high
perceived benefits and low perceived barriers towards active and public transport
were related to more active and public transport. High social support/norm/modeling
towards active, public and passive transport was related to more active, public and
passive transport. High neighborhood walkability was related to more walking and less
passive transport. Only in non-college educated working young adults, feeling safe
from traffic and crime in their neighborhood was related to more active and public
transport and less passive transport.ConclusionsEducational levels should be taken into account when promoting healthy transport behaviors
in working young adults. Among non-college educated working young adults, focus should
be on increasing active and public transport participation and on increasing neighborhood
safety to increase active and public transport use. Among college educated working
young adults, more minutes of active transport should be encouraged.

Strong evidence shows that physical inactivity increases the risk of many adverse health conditions, including major non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancers, and shortens life expectancy. Because much of the world's population is inactive, this link presents a major public health issue. We aimed to quantify the eff ect of physical inactivity on these major non-communicable diseases by estimating how much disease could be averted if inactive people were to become active and to estimate gain in life expectancy at the population level. For our analysis of burden of disease, we calculated population attributable fractions (PAFs) associated with physical inactivity using conservative assumptions for each of the major non-communicable diseases, by country, to estimate how much disease could be averted if physical inactivity were eliminated. We used life-table analysis to estimate gains in life expectancy of the population. Worldwide, we estimate that physical inactivity causes 6% (ranging from 3·2% in southeast Asia to 7·8% in the eastern Mediterranean region) of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease, 7% (3·9-9·6) of type 2 diabetes, 10% (5·6-14·1) of breast cancer, and 10% (5·7-13·8) of colon cancer. Inactivity causes 9% (range 5·1-12·5) of premature mortality, or more than 5·3 million of the 57 million deaths that occurred worldwide in 2008. If inactivity were not eliminated, but decreased instead by 10% or 25%, more than 533 000 and more than 1·3 million deaths, respectively, could be averted every year. We estimated that elimination of physical inactivity would increase the life expectancy of the world's population by 0·68 (range 0·41-0·95) years. Physical inactivity has a major health eff ect worldwide. Decrease in or removal of this unhealthy behaviour could improve health substantially. None.

Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new conception of development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18-25. A theoretical background is presented. Then evidence is provided to support the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations. How emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and young adulthood is explained. Finally, a cultural context for the idea of emerging adulthood is outlined, and it is specified that emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that allow young people a prolonged period of independent role exploration during the late teens and twenties.

This study evaluated a neighborhood environment survey and compared the physical activity and weight status of the residents in 2 neighborhoods. On 2 occasions, 107 adults from neighborhoods with differing "walkability" were selected to complete a survey on their neighborhood environment. Physical activity was assessed by self-report and by accelerometer; height and weight were assessed by self-report. Neighborhood environment characteristics had moderate to high test-retest reliabilities. Residents of high-walkability neighborhoods reported higher residential density, land use mix, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety. They had more than 70 more minutes of physical activity and had lower obesity prevalence (adjusted for individual demographics) than did residents of low-walkability neighborhoods. The reliability and validity of self-reported neighborhood environment subscales were supported. Neighborhood environment was associated with physical activity and overweight prevalence.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the
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the original author and source are credited.

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Funding

DS and JVC were supported by a PhD fellowship of The Research Foundation - Flanders
(
http://www.fwo.be/) (11U8114N and 11N0313N, respectively). KDC is supported by The Research Foundation
- Flanders (FWO) (
http://www.fwo.be/) (postdoctoral research fellowship: FWO11/PDO/097). CV is supported by a National
Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship (
http://heartfoundation.org.au/) (ID 100427). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis,
decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Categories

Subject:
Research Article

Subject:
Social Sciences

Subject:
Sociology

Subject:
Education

Subject:
Educational Attainment

Subject:
People and Places

Subject:
Population Groupings

Subject:
Age Groups

Subject:
Young Adults

Subject:
Earth Sciences

Subject:
Geography

Subject:
Human Geography

Subject:
Land Use

Subject:
Social Sciences

Subject:
Human Geography

Subject:
Land Use

Subject:
Social Sciences

Subject:
Sociology

Subject:
Criminology

Subject:
Crime

Subject:
Medicine and Health Sciences

Subject:
Health Care

Subject:
Psychological and Psychosocial Issues

Subject:
Biology and Life Sciences

Subject:
Physiology

Subject:
Biological Locomotion

Subject:
Walking

Subject:
Medicine and Health Sciences

Subject:
Physiology

Subject:
Biological Locomotion

Subject:
Walking

Subject:
Medicine and Health Sciences

Subject:
Public and Occupational Health

Subject:
Physical Activity

Subject:
Medicine and Health Sciences

Subject:
Public and Occupational Health

Subject:
Safety

Subject:
Traffic Safety

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